Summer Solstice and Full Moon

Here we are in the midst of the Summer Solstice and a full moon (Strawberry Moon). What does this mean for you?

The Summer Solstice, which falls every year on June 20, 21, or 22, occurs because the daylight hours far outnumber the length of dark hours. Meaning the Light is the thing. But what else might this lineup of Light hours mean to us?

My own story – Last evening, it was so very, very hot where I live. We do not have central air. Most of the time this is fine, and not an issue. Last evening my room felt like an inferno, even late when the air is usually cooler. I realized I would not be comfortable and probably would not sleep well. My two dogs, Izzie and Toby must have been super uncomfortable as well. I knew they were actually.

I grabbed my pillow, my sheet, a couple blankets and down the stairs we went, to sleep on the deck outside. I laid out the blankets to soften the hardness of the wood planks underneath me. The dogs were not really sure of what we were doing there and circled round and round. It was at least 10 degrees cooler, and Whew what a lovely difference! The Moon above was high and lustrous in her glory. Off in the distance, yet in my line of sight, there were storms with frenzied and frantic lightening. The stars above were out shining. It was in fact a perfectly brilliant night to be exactly where I was.

I realized just then, at that moment just after I settled in, that it was the eve of the Summer Solstice as well as the Strawberry Full Moon. Wow, I say to my self, what a special night this is, to be out and under the night sky and all this magnificence I mentally thank my guides for bringing me into this space.

Now, aware of my auspicious placement, I bring my attention to absorbing some of that lovely Luna Juju and partake of the Light. Even now, in the midst of night, the dark night sky is dazzling with Light, from the Luminous Full Moon, the shimmering stars, the far away bursts of Lightening. This is the moment in time when the Oak King and the Holly King, in their yearly battle for supremacy (as the seasons and the wheel of the year turn), the Oak King, crowned in his glory, his power and strength will begin to diminish on the morrow; giving way to the Holly King.

I feel a cool mountain breeze spring up and caress my face. The dogs snuggle into my sleep space. We are so content. I’ve dozed and drifted in and out of awareness for several hours. Next I know, its 3:45. I am relaxed in a moderate temperature zone but my bones are requesting more “give” in their resting place. I take up the blankets, pillows and all, and we return to the upstairs bedroom to finish our sleep.

Today; the Solstice. It seems to be a day of shifting airs. Thankfully it’s not so very hot. During the afternoon the temps drop and there are hazy, cloudy, overcast skies. On and off sparse sprinkles dot my windshield. It seems that a while later, there is turmoil in the air. The clouds are churning. The wind rises and falls. The air is charged. Excess energy is afloat, in the air, seeping into my body, into my emotions. Sizzling the air.

Later, the air is stormy, yet not stormy. Windy, as in the seasons of change and feeling somewhat odd and out of place at this moment. I see lightening across the sky as I head home, huge vertical cracks that seem to split and separate worlds. Yet in a moment disappear. Then the sideways lightening, which appear like a shot in the dark across the evening sky. Something is surely happening. I am in love with this clash of Light and Dark, even as it plays out before me in the early night sky.

The Summer Solstice; it is a time of recognizing and honoring the Sun as the power it is, including a light and warming agent, which creates the setting for flourishing of gardens, crops, livestock and abundant living. It is also, as I witnessed over the past 24 hours, a powerful force of Nature. The Light (both physical and metaphysically) is not a passive smile and wave. Indeed it has the might to shock and jolt us in our little earthly paradise out of her doldrums and and heat up the atmosphere until we are extremely uncomfortable, and perhaps even until its momentum is so great, it cannot be stopped until it is completely exhausted. It can scorch and burn. It can create an unforgettable moment of delight and awe as in a night sky alit with the sparkle and glitter of fireworks, only to be gone in a few minutes.

It’s a powerful time to acknowledge the Life Force and Life-Giving Force so potently alive and vibrant at this point in the cyclical, seasonal year. A power to acknowledge, to respect, to honor and to align with (I suggest not even pretending to be in control over)

For me, the Summer Solstice really brings home the concept of delight, of fullness, of coming ripeness, just as the hours of light and of night during this day are at their most extreme; the pendulum has swung completely to one side and will now, after one suspended moment, begin its powerful swing in the opposite direction. No equality here. The Light force is alive, awake and so very viable. Can’t you feel it? This is a time of the year I find personally so joyful. The sun is strong and sharing with us its undeniable capacity for warmth, life, encouraging nourishment, growth. Fragrance becomes strong, sexual urges peak and sensuality and creatively increase many fold. My every heart-beat, every breath feels gilded in Magic Elixir and I can laugh all day long.

I find that marking the seasons of the year a valuable practice. Hence the Solstices and other magical days. It’s a way for me to be more fully present to the wonders of the cosmos, of our earth, of nature, of the mystery that is everywhere. I love to sit quietly with my attention focused on being a vessel of receiving as part of my practice during this day. I recognize the value of the never-ceasing Circle of giving and receiving, so I am cognizant of consciously resting in the space and activity of receptivity. I love to bathe myself in the long light, knowing that after this Solstice marker-day, the day light will begin shrinking as the days move again toward the shortest day light in December.

The Full Moon today adds the richness of her fullness, of completion, of feminine magic, of celebrating our reflective and resplendent natures, of our cyclical ebb-and-flow inner and our selves. It is a powerful and amplified time.

I am inclined to frolic and delve deep into joyful, celebratory activities, often alone. I enjoy being outside as long as possible, dancing a little, creating an offering, sharing a pour of my glass, contemplating the generosity of the natural world and ways I might embody this quality a little bit more in my everyday life. I love to create my own small (yet powerful) ceremony and sit in gratitude.

How do you experience this day of Long Light? Of the Fullness of Being? Do you feel yourself a bit more intense this day? Do you notice you are feeling a little more full, more amped up, more juicy, more alive, more sensitive? What are you noticing? How do you celebrate it or mark this climax and shift in directions? Please share!!